Cyclists shudder as magpies swoop again

August 9, 2012 — 11.06am

I read a Twitter message last week that made my heart sink like a stone. “First magpie swoop of the year – and it’s only July.”

Yes, it’s that season again, when magpies swoop and cyclists are skittish. Just as it starts to warm up and the mornings aren’t quite as dark comes the ever-present threat of feathered fury from the sky.

Feathered fury ... a cyclist being strafed by a magpie.Credit:Joe Armao

Back in 2006, when I embarked on my Mamil career, I had my first and most memorable incident. I was cycling through Manly on Sydney’s northern beaches, dreaming my little dreamy dreams, when THWACK! … a clash of claws and wings against my neck, and the horrible, dry rasp of a beak pecking at my ear.

I was still trying to interpret what had happened – had someone thrown something at me? - when THWACK, another strike. I weaved and bobbed like a loon for a suburban block until I was away from the danger. Or so I thought. THWACK!

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I later learned that I was just another victim of the Pine Street Pest, a bird so persistent that it has been featured in the local paper.

Two years ago, an article in Australian Geographic gave some fascinating information from behavioural ecologist Dr Darryl Jones.

Firstly, only 12 per cent of magpies swoop, and 99 per cent of them are male. More curiously, magpies don’t all have the same pet hates. Just over half of them attack pedestrians and leave cyclists alone, 29 per cent will have a go at walkers and cyclists, and 8 per cent of them are exclusive haters of bike riders.

Which raises the question – why are so many of them on my favourite cycling journeys? Magpies tend to nest in the same spots every year, meaning déjà vu attacks for anyone cycling a regular route.

After six swooping seasons, and much gabbing with other cyclists, I’ve compiled this non-exhaustive, entirely unscientific list of magpie coping strategies.